In looking for a place to continue his football career after entering the transfer portal, Jaylen Flemmons originally committed to Division II Lake Erie College in northeast Ohio.
Then, when NAIA powerhouse Marian came through with a matching scholarship offer, Flemmons opted to go there. The 2018 Columbus North graduate would be less than an hour from home as opposed to six hours.
But late last week, another school not too far from home came through with a full-ride scholarship offer, and over the weekend Flemmons committed to Kentucky State.
“It was an opportunity that my and my parents felt like I couldn’t pass up,” Flemmons said.
Kentucky State, which is located in the state capitol of Frankfort, is a Division II school, but only through this spring season. The Thorobreds will become a Football Championship Subdivsion (formerly I-AA) program in the fall.
Kentucky State went 7-3 in 2019, highlighted by a win against Deion Sanders-coached Jackson State in the Circle City Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium. The fall 2020 season was postponed until this spring because of COVID-19 concerns.
“The one thing that really attracted me is that they’re an HBCU,” Flemmons said. “I’ve always wanted to go to an HBCU college, and recently, they’ve been making their reach go wider.”
Flemmons has spent the past 2 1/2 years at Ball State. The 6-foot-1, 187-pound wide receiver redshirted as a freshman in 2018 and did not see any game action for the Cardinals in 2019.
Prior to Ball State’s first game this season, Flemmons decided to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal.
“I understand with me being a walk-on, I was waiting for my time,” Flemmons said. “I got up to probably third string at my position, but then some stuff just didn’t go my way this year and that’s what resulted in the transfer.”
Flemmons reached out to former Ball State defensive coordinator David Elson, who now is the defensive coordinator at Marian and helped recruit Flemmons to Marian, to tell him he was going to Kentucky State.
Although he hasn’t been able to visit Kentucky State because of the COVID pandemic, Flemmons has been on Zoom calls with Thorobreds coaches. He also has talked with a couple of Kentucky State players.
Following this spring, Flemmons still will have three more years of college eligibility remaining.
“I just want to first get back on the field because I felt like I haven’t in a long time,” Flemmons said. “I want to get back out there because I didn’t play at Ball State. I feel like I do have a lot of football left to play, and I’ve learned a lot with the time I’ve been in college.”
The spring season will be a change for Flemmons and Kentucky State considering that fall seasons begin in the heat of the summer and finish in the cold. This will be the opposite.
“It’s definitely going to be different,” Flemmons said. “It’s going to take a little bit more mental toughness going through all the camp and stuff with probably snow on the ground. It’s just going to be different playing football in a different season.”
Flemmons majored in business administration at Ball State, but was planning to switch to marketing or management at Marian. But with Kentucky State offering business administration, he plans to continue along that path while pursuing his dream of someday playing in the NFL.
“That’s always been a goal since I was a kid and first started playing,” Flemmons said. “At the same time, I want to get my degree and start working on my master’s while I’m there. They have MBA programs, so I’m hoping I can start one of those while I’m still playing football. It’s better for my schooling, which is also why I wanted to go there.”
